Whenever a film tackles an historical event, there are inevitably questions. The simple fact is it’s always best to approach a movie as a dramatization and not a documentary (and documentaries of course, are inevitably borne of perspective and speculation to a degree).
Indeed, put aside any controversy or preconceived notions about Kathryn Bigelow’s film “Zero Dark Thirty” and you’ll see a riveting and potent piece of work about the hunt for Osama bin Laden.
The film wisely eschews politics, focusing instead on the procedural aspect of the hunt to locate bin Laden. Presidents Bush and Obama are scarcely mentioned, and the only real political references are a couple of mentions of changing attitudes in Washington over the handling of detainees.
The film adopts a respectful, solemn, lean and by-the-numbers approach to the task at hand, with the final 40 minutes culminating in the raid on bin Laden’s compound.
Yes, there are scenes of torture or enhanced interrogation, or whatever you want to call it, and they are tough to watch. We are also presented with the ruthlessness and viciousness of Al Oaeda. In short, this film doesn’t pull many punches.
Yes, there has been controversy over the handling of interrogation scenes, cries from those in Washington and questions about whether the filmmakers were granted access to information they shouldn’t have (if that was the case, the issue should fall on whoever gave out the access, not who requested it). The fact is, it’s impossible to know the correct answers to these questions, because few truly know.
That’s the trick when dealing facts vs. truth. The fact is that on May 2, 2011, a raid was carried out on a compound housing bin Laden, where he was killed. How everything led to that is a trickier matter. There are thousands of different perspectives and the ’truth’ probably lies somewhere in the middle of those perspectives.
If anything, the film faces the same dilemma as Steven Spielberg’s “Lincoln,” namely how to compress a ton of material into about two-and-a-half hours. Writer Mark Boal, who collaborated with Bigelow on the Oscar-winning “Hurt Locker,” does an admirable job of getting that material across, although viewers who don’t pay attention are likely to get lost.
Bigelow’s direction is spot-on, and the sequence involving the raid is taut and suspenseful, even though we already know the outcome. The fact Bigelow didn’t get a Best Director nomination is simply baffling. This is as well-made a film as any of the past year.
The film is anchored by Jessica Chastain as Maya, a CIA officer obsessed with tracking the Al-Qaeda leader down. Jason Clarke delivers fine support as a more experienced, hardened officer.
Bigelow, who is easily the best female director in Hollywood, has had an intriguing career trajectory with the cult films “Near Dark“ and “Point Break“ to the criminally underrated “Strange Days,” the not-so-successful “Blue Steel” and “K19: The Widowmaker” and finally to “The Hurt Locker,” for which she became the first woman to win an Oscar for directing. “Zero Dark Thirty” is certainly her strongest work yet.